ABSTRACT
Development and change of a living system are represented in terms of changes in components and their relationships. Different approaches to studying human development have focused on different kinds of components. Structural and functional characteristics evolved in interacting ways, with each development closing some future possibilities while perhaps opening new avenues of development. Environmental conditions impact upon and influence individual development and functioning, while simultaneously individuals’ behavior impacts upon and influences the development and functioning of their environments. Each human embryo begins its development with a unique combination of genetic potentials drawn from the human genetic pool. The behavioral repertoire, which results from the developmental-learning history within a person’s boundary conditions, may be thought of as a set of functional components that may be performed in a variety of combinations. Humanists and modern evolutionists and developmentalists may be on converging roads.
